krew

krew is the package manager for kubectl plugins.

What is krew?

krew is a tool that makes it easy to use kubectl plugins. krew helps you discover plugins, install and manage them on your machine. It is similar to tools like apt, dnf or brew. Today, over 70 kubectl plugins are available on krew.

• For kubectl users: krew helps you find, install and manage kubectl plugins in a consistent way.
• For plugin developers: krew helps you package and distribute your plugins on multiple platforms and makes them discoverable.

krew is easy to use:

kubectl krew search                 # show all plugins
kubectl krew install view-secret    # install a plugin named "view-secret"
kubectl view-secret                 # use the plugin
kubectl krew upgrade                # upgrade installed plugins
kubectl krew uninstall view-secret  # uninstall a plugin

Read the User Guide for detailed documentation.

Check out the list of kubectl plugins available on krew or just run kubectl krew search to discover plugins available on your OS.

Installation

⚠️ Warning: krew is only compatible with kubectl v1.12 or higher.

macOS and Linux:

Bash and ZSH

1. Make sure that git is installed.

2. Run this command in your terminal to download and install krew:

   (
     set -x; cd "$(mktemp -d)" &&
     curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/krew/releases/download/v0.3.3/krew.{tar.gz,yaml}" &&
     tar zxvf krew.tar.gz &&
     KREW=./krew-"$(uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')_amd64" &&
     "$KREW" install --manifest=krew.yaml --archive=krew.tar.gz &&
     "$KREW" update
   )

3. Add $HOME/.krew/bin directory to your PATH environment variable. To do this, update your .bashrc or .zshrc file and append the following line:

   export PATH="${KREW_ROOT:-$HOME/.krew}/bin:$PATH"

   and restart your shell.

Fish

1. Make sure that git is installed.

2. Run this command in your terminal to download and install krew:

   begin
     set -x; set temp_dir (mktemp -d); cd "$temp_dir" &&
     curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/krew/releases/download/v0.3.3/krew.{tar.gz,yaml}" &&
     tar zxvf krew.tar.gz &&
     set KREWNAME krew-(uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')_amd64 &&
     ./$KREWNAME install \
       --manifest=krew.yaml --archive=krew.tar.gz &&
     set -e KREWNAME; set -e temp_dir
   end

3. Add $HOME/.krew/bin directory to your PATH environment variable. To do this, update your config.fish file and append the following line:

   set -gx PATH $PATH $HOME/.krew/bin

   and restart your shell.

Windows:

1. Make sure git is installed on your system.

2. Download krew.exe and krew.yaml from the Releases page to a directory.

3. Launch a command-line window (cmd.exe) and navigate to that directory.

4. Run the following command to install krew (pass the correct paths to krew.yaml and krew.zip below):

   krew install --manifest=krew.yaml
   

5. Add %USERPROFILE%\.krew\bin directory to your PATH environment variable (how?)

Verifying installation

Run kubectl plugin list command to see installed plugins. This command should show kubectl-krew in the results. You can now use kubectl krew command.

Upgrading krew

Since krew itself is installed as a "kubectl plugin" managed by krew, it can be upgraded like a plugin by running the kubectl krew upgrade command.

Documentation

• Users:
  • Read the User Guide to learn how to use krew.
• Plugin Developers:
  • Developer Guide: how to package and publish a plugin for krew.
  • Naming Guide: how to choose a good name for your plugin
• Krew Developers:
  • Building Krew (not written yet)
  • Releasing Krew: how to release new version of krew.
  • Plugin Lifecycle: how krew installs/upgrades plugins and itself.
  • Krew Architecture: architectural decisions behind designing krew.

Visit ./docs for all documentation.

Roadmap

Please check out the Issue Tracker to see the plan of record for new features and changes.

Community

Bug reports

• If you have a problem with the Krew itself, please file an issue in this repository.
• If you're having a problem with a particular plugin's installation or upgrades, file an issue at krew-index repository.
• If you're having an issue with an installed plugin, file an issue for the repository the plugin's source code is hosted at.

Communication channels

• Slack #sig-cli
• Mailing List
• Kubernetes Community site

Contributing

Interested in contributing to Krew? Please refer to our Contributing Guidelines for more details

Code of Conduct

Participation in the Kubernetes community is governed by the Kubernetes Code of Conduct.